Nearly 300 snow shoe racers, skiers, and snowboarders gathered in Wausau from January 29-30 to compete at the 2011 Special Olympics Wisconsin State Winter Games. Read more
Special Olympics Wisconsin thanks everyone who knitted or crocheted scarves for the athletes, coaches, and volunteers who attended the State Winter Games in January! Read more
Athletes, coaches, and volunteers huddled together around a crackling fire at Nine Mile State Forest ski chalet to heat up between competitions, but all it took to warm the heart of Alex Guild, a 20-year-old athlete from De Pere, Wisconsin, was hearing the priceless story of the 102-year-old woman who crocheted the sapphire blue scarf that lay nestled around his neck. Read more
So far, three Polar Plunges have taken place in Wisconsin Rapids, Menomonie and Muskego. Nine more Polar Plunges are scheduled in the next three weekends. Thank you to everyone who is participating in the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics Wisconsin!
 Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. died on January 18, 2011 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD, surrounded by his family. He was 95 years old. Husband of 56 years to the late founder of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Sargent Shriver was Chairman of the Board Emeritus for Special Olympics and served as president of the Special Olympics Movement from 1984 through 1996 before his son, Timothy P. Shriver took the helm as current Chairman and CEO. Read more
When AJ Hawk is described, "soft spoken" and "humble" are usually two of the first words that come to mind. But watching the Packer linebacker play the game is far from the soft-spoken portrayal he has off the field. Read more
 Help Special Olympics Wisconsin SPREAD THE WORD TO END THE WORD™! Another year of raising awareness of the hurtful and harmful effects of the use of the R-word, "retard(ed)," is underway. Read more
Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI) is pleased to announce Melissa Maxwell has joined the staff as the Regional Director of Sports for Northwestern Wisconsin. Read more
Start celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Law Enforcement Torch Run® (LETR) for Special Olympics Wisconsin by ordering your 2011 Final Leg T-shirt. T-shirts are $12.00 each (price includes sales tax) and proceeds support the competition and training of nearly 10,000 athletes statewide.
Contact your Regional Director of Development or Valerie Green at vgreen@specialolympicswisconsin.org or (608) 442-5670 to order yours today. Learn more about 25th Anniversary LETR events
Milwaukee Police Officer Kathy Schult was recently selected to represent Wisconsin in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a Law Enforcement Torch Run® (LETR) Final Leg Runner for the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece. Read more
In 2010, Fort Atkinson agency 7-21 Agency Manager Michelle Schmidt went Over the Edge of the Hilton Madison Monona Terrace, rapelling 13 stories and earning $1,775 for Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI). Over the summer, she attended the Youth Activation Summit in Nebraska and this past month, Fort Atkinson hosted the fifth annual Kurt Bubolz Basketball Invitational for 32 teams. Read More
 Special Olympics Wisconsin athletes are treated as the champions they are during local, regional, and state competitions, but oftentimes, when they step into the classroom, they step out of the spotlight. Northern Access #2-11 may be a small agency with just 20 athletes, but they have big ideas for ways to make the athletes appreciated in the Northland Pines School District. Read more
Special Olympics needs your help to win an $100,000 donation! The Infinity Coaches' Charity Challenge allows 14 NCAA men's basketball coaches pick a charity of their choice and the coach with the most votes has a $100,000 donation made in his name to his selected charity Purdue Boilermakers coach, Matt Painter, chose Special Olympics and he needs your votes through March 11th! You can vote once a day so share the news on your Facebook profiles, and tweet it out to the world! Visit ESPN's microsite, find Coach Matt Painter and vote! Note: you have to sign up for a username at ESPN to participate.
Congratulations to Special Olympics supporting company Stephan & Brady
Stephan & Brady, a full-service marketing communications agency based in Madison, recently received a Best of Show, three first place and three Merit Awardsat the National Agri-Marketing Association Awards. Stephan & Brady has contributed to Special Olympics Wisconsin over the years with designs for the Polar Plunge and Over the Edge.
Mutual Respect, Positive Attitude, Accountability, Teamwork and Dedication - Values SOWI lives by to create an environment of integrity where winning is more than coming in first.
Through Youth Service America, SOWI has received a total of $3,000 from UnitedHealth Health HEROES grant program to implement Young Athletes in Eau Claire, Kenosha, Eagle River, Cedarburg, Wausau, and Chippewa Falls this spring. The purpose of the grant monies is to support programs like Young Athletes that engage youth volunteers in a semester of service learning to tackle the issue of childhood obesity. Learn more about the Young Athletes Program.
Quiz Question: When and where was the first Special Olympics Wisconsin tournament held?
The first person to email the correct answer to Christina Harris at charris@specialolympicswisconsin.org wins a prize! One entry per person.
Stumped? Visit our website for clues!
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by
Dennis Alldridge, President of Special Olympics Wisconsin
Freezin’ for a Reason!
This is "Plunge Season" as we like to say. From Saturday, February 5 until Saturday, March 5 Special Olympics Wisconsin will host 12 Plunges from Menomonie to Racine from Green Bay to La Crosse and cities in between. These are the largest fundraising events we host each year and they are wildly popular and successful. These Plunges also form the foundation of our funding to provide services to the 10,000 athletes we serve year-round. So these five weeks are an important start to our year.
Read more
Top Five Online Fund Raisers Statewide*
- $5,020 - Greg Duerr
- $2,335 - Eric Jorgensen
- $2,195 - Gary Leibfried
- $1,990 - Steve Tate
- $1,940 - Mike Richie
Top Five Online Teams Statewide*
- $18,042 - Verona Area Plunginators
- $16,638 - Chassity's Chill Seekers
- $10,434 - Wisconsin MBA
- $6,665 - Oshkosh Polar Plunge Committee and Friends
- $6,085 - MillTown Paper
*As of 12 p.m. on 2/15/2011
Whitewater Polar Plunge
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 - Cravath Lakefront Park, Whitewater, WI
Oshkosh Polar Plunge
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 - Menominee Park, Miller's Bay
Madison Polar Plunge
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 - Olin Turville Park
2011 Area 8 District Basketball Skills Competition
Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011 - Milwaukee Lutheran High School, Milwaukee
Aquatics Coaches Certified Training School
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 - YMCA at Pabst Farms, Oconomowoc
Green Bay Polar Plunge
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 - The Watering Hole
Pleasant Prairie Polar Plunge
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 - Lake Andrea, Pleasant Prairie, WI
Wausau Polar Plunge
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 - Sunnyvale Man Made Park
2011 Area 7 Basketball Skills Competition
Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011 - Badger High School, Lake Geneva
Eau Claire Polar Plunge
Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011 - Half Moon Beach in Carson Park, Eau Claire
2011 Area 8 District Gymnastics Competition
Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011 - Nicolet High School, Glendale
Coulee Region Polar Plunge
Saturday, Mar. 5, 2011 - Pettibone Beach, La Crosse
Milwaukee Polar Plunge
Saturday, Mar. 5, 2011 - Bradford Beach, Milwaukee
2011 Area 7 District Basketball Tournament
Saturday, Mar. 5, 2011 - Wilmot High School
District Basketball Skills
Saturday, Mar. 5, 2011 - Green Bay Area
Northern Access Snowshoe Race Invitational
Saturday, Mar. 5, 2011 - Eagle River
Fox Valley District Team Basketball Tournament
Saturday, Mar. 5, 2011 - Menasha High School
2011 Area 6 Team Basketball Tournament
March 6, 2011 - Verona
District Basketball Tournament
Sunday, Mar. 6, 2011 - Chippewa Falls
2011 Area 8 District Team Basketball Competition
Sunday, Mar. 6, 2011 - Homestead High School, Mequon
Chili Cook-off
Saturday, Mar. 12, 2011 - Milwaukee Public Market
2011 Area 6 (NE) Basketball Skills Competition
March 12, 2011 - La Crosse
District Gymnastics Tournament
Saturday, Mar. 19, 2011 - LaCrosse
WSD Pre-K Program Young Athletes
Saturdays, Jan. 15 - March 19, 2011 - A.C. Kiefer School, Wausau
Northern Regional Basketball Tournament
Sunday, Mar. 20, 2011 - UW-Stevens Point
2011 Regional Basketball Tournament
Sunday, Mar. 20, 2011 - Rec Plex, Pleasant Prairie
Northwoods Children's Museum Young Athletes
Wednesdays, Jan. 26 - March 23, 2011 - Northland Pines K-8 Small Gym, Eagle River
Red Robin Tip A Cop
Saturday, Mar. 26, 2011 - Greenfield
Click
here for the full calendar of events.
Statewide Partners
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102-year-old woman contributes to Scarves for Special Olympics
Agency Spotlight: 
